One down, twenty to go... Albert Park, the season opener, a race that has been won by Valtteri Bottas, his first victory since Abu Dhabi in 2017! The race was won with a margin of 20.8 seconds, a margin bigger than any seen last season. Not only did Valtteri manage to secure the top step of the podium, he also managed to secure the point for fastest lap, a start to the season the Finn could only have dreamt of last year, after a win less 2018 season.
But it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine for those down under...
Ferrari for one started this season off at winter testing with amazing pace, pace which led many to believe the iconic red team would be the ones to fear... However, after the Melbourne Grand Prix, this may not be the case. Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finished the race in fourth and fifth respectively, not what was predicted. But there may have been a mechanical issue for Vettel's car, which could explain the lack of speed. Yet when Charles, who seemed to have a faster car, asked whether he could overtake and try his luck at catching Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, Charles was told to hang back. Have team orders already begun?
Red Bull had a race with both ups and downs, Max Verstappen managed to secure third on the podium whilst, Pierre Gasly failed to score a single point. However, this was not Gasly's finest hour, as he managed to crash in qualifying on Saturday which led him to start down in seventeenth, and with a racetrack like Albert Park, there wasn't many overtaking opportunities... Consequently, Gasly finished just outside the points in eleventh. Ignoring Gasly's race, which doesn't seem to be representative of Red Bull's package this season, can the Austrian team actually be genuine title contenders this season with Honda power?
Haas... Yet again, Haas have had another pitstop blunder at the same venue! Last season, Haas qualified in sixth and seventh but during their pitstops on Sunday, both cars had identical issues with securing tyres. This year, the same issue occured with Romain Grosjean and his front left tyre, causing the Franco-Swiss to retire from the race.
Renault are currently fifth in the championship, after Australia's hometown hero, Daniel Ricciardo, retired from the race after a freak accident in which his front wing was ripped off before he even reached the first corner. His teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, on the other hand finished best of the rest in seventh.
Alfa Romeo have shown they have pace and the potential to be the dark horse this season. Especially with the addition of the 2007 World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen. Moreover, Antonio Giovinazzi displayed impressive defensive moves, however, his strategy today led him to finish fifteenth.
Racing Point had a tricky season last year with the team entering administration, but with the addition of billionaire businessman, Lawrence Stroll, will he be the teams guardian angel and resurrect the pink team?
Toro Rosso managed to secure the final point up for grabs with Daniil Kvyat finishing in tenth position, outscoring Pierre Gasly, who races for the top team and sister team Red Bull. Rookie Alex Albon, out qualified Kvyat but when it came down to race day, Albon finished four places behind the Russian.
Unfortunately, McLaren failed to secure any points, with car number 55 retiring after a suspected MGU-K failure and plumes of smoke billowing from the rear of the MCL34. Although, Carlos Sainz' rookie team mate, Lando Norris, managed to pull off an outstanding qualifying session securing eighth, his race strategy led to a twelfth place finish.
Williams finished last in sixteenth and seventeenth. After a poor start to the season with winter testing and their chief technical director Paddy Lowe taking a leave of absence just days before Melbourne, Williams have been on the back foot ever since. The team even told their drivers not to use the curbs in case of any car damage, Kubica even stated on Saturday that they were running with a broken car. Not the best for a team that was once dominating the field.
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